For hundreds of years, the bark of a cork tree has been used simply to seal wine bottles, but these days, the humble cork has evolved to become an enological tool, chosen to match and influence the style of wine being made.
This is, of course, after the work completed over the last two decades by cork producers to eliminate 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole, or TCA. While it hasn't been eradicated entirely, TCA incidences have been greatly reduced across the industry.
Leading producers first developed better ways of storing and screening, then removing TCA from agglomerated cork and later from natural cork. From there, they created advanced machines to individually screen natural cork stoppers for TCA. These machines aren't completely bulletproof but are very effective.
Along the way cork producers deployed x-ray machines to screen out leaky corks. They focused on making agglomerated cork, and most recently punched natural cork, more consistent and predictable in terms of oxygen permeability, which has enabled winemakers some degree of control over aging and flavor development.
All this has meant winemakers can now match a closure to the style they're going for. Innovation continues in the category. Here's a rundown on the latest cork products. There are new twists.
Bee W coating for more consistent natural cork stoppers
Amorim introduced steam treatment for natural corks with "Rosa Evolution" in 2005, followed by "SuperRosa" in 2013, "WVE" airtightness testing for individual corks in 2016, "Ndtech" fully automated inspection for TCA in 2017, "AI RX" imaging in 2020, "Naturity" thermal desorption for natural cork under vacuum in 2021, and "Bee W" in 2022.
Bee W is part of Amorim's strategy to enhance the consistency of the natural cork stopper.
Separately, Amorim rolled out an internal imaging system in 2020 to improve consistency and created an algorithm to remove cork that doesn't fit internal specifications, but there weren't any news releases or marketing around it. The X-ray imaging is conducted on all the natural cork offered by Amorim.
Dustin Mowe, president and CEO at Portocork, said x-ray imaging of the internal structure of natural cork helped narrow the gap with engineered closures in terms of OTR and bottle variation, saying, "It's definitely made cork more consistent."
Based on extensive testing and market experience, Bee W addresses bottle-to-bottle variability and reduces oxygen transmission rates through the cork. It was developed over seven years with tests in Burgundy, primarily with Chardonnay.
Natural corks traditionally get a surface treatment, an emulsification of paraffin and silicon. Amorim came up with a formulation of beeswax coating for natural cork with low and consistent oxygen ingress rates. It's got a thicker coating and is a little stickier, making the natural cork behave differently, more akin to a micro-agglomerate.
The oxygen ingress from each stopper can be gauged with a high-level of accuracy and one of the advantages of precise control is it enhances the preservation of sulfur dioxide in the wine. Amorim calls Bee W "an effective coating delivering sensory neutrality." In terms of oxygen ingress, it's closer to a technical cork but still is a natural cork stopper, so has a lower scalping capacity (absorption of aroma compounds from the wine into the closure, that can reduce aromatic intensity) compared with a technical cork and it's still a piece of wood so the phenolics of the cork can be a contributing factor in developing a specific style of wine.
Amorim reintroduces Helix with no special bottles required
Helix is cork's answer to the screwcap: no corkscrew is required and it's easy for the consumer to reseal. The late Fred Franzia, co-founder at Bronco Wine Company, was an early proponent and used Helix for the Red Truck brand.
First introduced in 2013, Helix surpassed 50 million units sold globally but, at the time, required a special glass bottle with groves on the top. Glassmaker Owens Illinois partnered with Amorim to make a bottle suitable for the Helix.
The new, updated version is compatible with all bottles that feature an 18.5 mm neck (CETIE model), which expands its versatility across markets and wine styles.
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